September 30, 2009

Thoughts Here and There

Sorry I haven’t posted anything new in nearly a month. I’ve been a bit distracted lately, but I think I have good reasons! The biggest news is that I’m back to teaching piano. It’s nice to have a consistent work schedule, and with my hobby as an arranger-transcriber, I can easily assign pieces that my students are interested in.

My second bit of news is that Alex introduced me to FF6, my second Final Fantasy. I’m sure many of you already realize this, but THIS GAME IS AMAZING. We recently completed the famous opera scene, which left me awestruck. After experiencing the inventiveness and sheer variety of characters and things to do, backed by a beautiful soundtrack (and feeling like I’ve only scratched the surface of the story) I feel inspired and ashamed that I’ve never played it before. I’m not very far in the game yet, but if things continue on like this, I think FF6 could easily sit among my favorites.

The most striking piece of music for me so far has been the “Serpent Trench” theme. It’s such a cool orchestral sound for a video game, and I can’t imagine many situations in any RPG that would allow a piece of music like this. Walking-pace string pulses, flitting motifs, unusual chords that give it somewhat of a surreal tone... I love it!

“Serpent Trench” from Final Fantasy VI, composed by Nobuo Uematsu.

And the third reason why I haven’t uploaded a new video is because I’ve been unhappy and picky. For awhile now, I’ve been practicing “Besaid Island” from the FFX Piano Collections. I memorized the notes about a month ago and can get from point A to B, but rather than “reciting” the piece from memory, I’d like to be “fluent” in it, to where it feels completely effortless. I do feel like I’m close to nailing it, though, so I’ll try to post it soon.

(Somewhat unrelated, I’ve also been teaching myself “Rufus’ Welcoming Ceremony” from the FF7 Piano Collections and Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in G Minor, which now that I think about it, have quite a few similarities. I suppose I’m in a chord-smashing mood.)

3 comments:

  1. I think it's about time I replay FF6 as well. Last time I played it, I couldn't even read English, let alone the sophistication of the songs, graphics, and technology. Strange why my brother and me played through the game at least 3 times, even though we don't even understtand what the heck was going on. Are you playing it on an emulator by any chance?
    I don't suppose you'll be playing it twice. But if you do, I'd love to hear your thoughts once you get half way through the game the second time. Something really odd happened when I got to that point once.

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  2. Hmm, I'm curious to know what you mean now. And yes, we are playing it on an emulator. :)

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  3. oh, you should put some serious effort into this game, its the best they ever made in the series.
    it features some of the best VG music out there! just wait until the end... :)

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